Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1958 • Hockey Clip • Greatest Sports Thrill with Gordie Howe

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1958 • Hockey Clip • Greatest Sports Thrill with Gordie Howe · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  This is Gordon Howe of the Detroit Hockey Club. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports show.
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  This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of hockey's outstanding players.
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  And an event our special guest Gordon Howe considers his greatest sports thrill.
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  And Gordy himself is here to tell us all about it.
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  But first, here's Bill Reddick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
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  A good basketball captain knows when to press the other team, slow down the offense, or call time out.
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  In short, he has sound judgment.
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  Well, former servicemen with sound judgment are investigating today's opportunities in the United States Air Force.
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  Why? Because in the new age of space, the Air Force needs skilled former servicemen.
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  If you have the necessary background, you'll receive top training in promising career fields such as electronics,
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  jet mechanics, radar, and missile systems.
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  You'll get good starting rank, a guaranteed annual income, and steady advancement.
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  What's more, you'll get 30-day paid annual vacations, tax-free allowances for food, quarters, and clothing, plus other fine benefits.
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  See your local Air Force recruiter today about a secure position and a bright future in the age of space.
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  You'll agree that today and tomorrow, you're better off in the space age Air Force.
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  And that's more than just a slogan, it's good advice.
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  Now back to Harry Wisner.
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  Although the Detroit Red Wings are no longer the kingpins of the National Hockey League,
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  their star, Gordy Howe, continues as one of the outstanding players in the history of the game.
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  This remarkable right-winger was only 23 years old when he became the youngest winner of the Art Ross Trophy
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  as the league scoring champion in 1950 and 51.
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  Howe led the league's scores for four consecutive seasons, a feat never equaled before or since.
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  His tremendous play was a vital factor in the string of Detroit's hockey titles
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  that eventually reached seven before the Red Wings tumbled to second place in the season of 1955 and 56.
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  Howe was also voted the Hart Trophy twice in succession as the circuit's most valuable player.
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  Other noteworthy accomplishments in the career of this sensational hockey star include
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  topping the 80-point total four years in a row and the 40-goal mark three straight times.
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  And it should come as no surprise to hockey followers that Gordy Howe has filled the right-wing position
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  on the official NHL All-Star Team eight straight seasons in his first 11 years in the league.
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  Today, at an age when some players are finished, Gordy Howe is still in his prime.
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  He moves as gracefully as ever, the smoothest stick handler in hockey,
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  with his shooting eyes still among the best in the business.
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  The great red-wing player is second only to Montreal's Maurice Richard among the game's all-time goal-getters.
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  Richard, in 16 seasons, is the only man to score more than 500 goals.
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  Howe is nearing 400. No one else, either past or present, is close.
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  Gordy Howe, born May 31, 1928, is hockey's most versatile player.
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  Not only does he shoot from both left and right, which allows him to play on either wing
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  and shoot accurately from any angle, but he is so effective on defense
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  that he has been used as a defenseman in games during the past few years
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  when the Red Wings were trying to make a one-goal lead hold-up.
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  Howe's biggest booster is the Red Wings' general manager, Jack Adams.
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  But other hockey men in the high echelon, such as Muz Patrick,
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  the New York Rangers' general manager, are just as high on Gordy Howe.
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  Gordy Howe is the greatest player who ever played hockey, says Patrick, and I've seen them all.
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  Adams, who has been on hockey 42 years, 31 of them with the Red Wings,
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  calls Howe the perfect hockey player.
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  Except for an injury in 1954, Howe has been virtually indestructible
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  since he came up to the Red Wings in 1946 and 47.
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  Starting on the 9th of January the 19th, 1949, Howe played through a record 382 consecutive league games,
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  not missing a game in six years. His streak finally was stopped on November 3, 1954 by a severe shoulder injury.
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  Gordy Howe's greatest individual effort may have come in the game of December 25, 1956, Christmas night,
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  at Madison Square Garden in New York, when he netted a three-goal hat-trick for the 12th time
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  and added three assists as the Red Wings routed the New York Rangers 8-1.
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  Gordy Howe scored his first major league goal against goalie Turk Broda at the Toronto Maple Leafs in October of 1946.
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  He had only seven all that year.
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  In his second season, Howe was moved up to Detroit's first line with the veterans Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay.
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  The trio soon became the most powerful line in the game.
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  Gordy Howe didn't hit his stride until his fourth season with the Detroit Red Wings.
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  He won his first scoring championship in his fifth year, and in the next four years he rolled up an amazing total of 172 goals,
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  an average of 43 per 70 game season.
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  Gordy Howe is the Charlie Gerringer of hockey, his old coach Tommy Ivan once remarked.
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  By that I mean that he has both the ability and the knack for making the difficult plays look easy and routine.
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  Since he entered the National Hockey League, Gordy Howe has had some spectacular fights.
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  Most memorable perhaps is the one he had with his archrival Maurice Richard.
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  The two stars tangled one night in Montreal, and the officials stood by and let them go at it.
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  Most hockey brawls involved threatening gestures, a few shoves, a tossed glove or two, and an occasional wallop.
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  But this one was a honey.
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  Gordy Howe came out of it with a few bruises, but Richard did not leave with the Canadians when they departed for New York the next day.
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  A majority of Gordy Howe's fights on the ice came early in his career.
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  In many of them he became involved in brawls while coming to the aid of his lively 5 foot 8 inch ex-teammate Ted Lindsey.
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  Jack Adams, Red Wings General Manager, says he finally had to put handcuffs on him.
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  He ordered him to refrain from using his fists.
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  As he says, Gordy Howe is more valuable to us playing hockey.
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  No one in hockey will dispute that point.
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  Now before you meet our special guest, Gordy Howe in person, and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
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  here is a message of interest to all young men who want to go places faster.
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  Recent servicemen, how much are you worth?
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  Well, probably more than you think, because your past military experience may bring you a good position with a promising future.
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  Where? In the United States Air Force.
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  You see, the Air Force urgently needs trained technicians to help run the new age of space.
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  And former servicemen like yourself can cash in military experience and skills for a promising Air Force career.
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  If qualified, you'll receive the finest training available in such important fields as guided missiles, jet mechanics, radar, electronics.
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  With this special knowledge, you'll advance as quickly as your ability allows.
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  What's more, the Air Force gives you a guaranteed annual income, 30 days paid vacation every year,
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  tax-free allowances for food, quarters and clothing, and many other benefits.
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  See your local Air Force recruiter soon and discover that today and tomorrow you're better off in the Space Age Air Force.
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  Now back to Harry Wisner.
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  Gordy Howe, what was your greatest sports thrill?
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  Well, Harry, I'd have to say it was a combination of many things.
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  Actually, the first one I would have to put ahead of the other two would be the fifth year in the league.
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  I won the scoring race, I also placed on the first All-Star Club and won the Most Valuable Player Award.
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  That was a great thrill to me.
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  The second, I would say, was our second Stanley Cup.
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  The first one I was unable to play due to the head injury which I had.
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  But the second one I was in the lineup all the way and that was a great thrill.
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  And the third, I might add, was the first game I ever played.
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  And I scored a goal in the second period against Turk Broda of the Toronto Maple Leaf.
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  And undoubtedly that was the greatest thrill because of all my years out in Western Canada,
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  all I heard was Turk Broda this, Turk Broda that because they broadcast the Toronto games out to Western Canada.
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  So scoring against Turk Broda, I would definitely say, was one of my greatest thrills.
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  As a top hockey player yourself, Gordy, who would you rate as the three best players you've ever seen or played against?
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  Terry, that would be a pretty tough question, but I'd have to go along with Melch Smith and also Rocket Richard.
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  And I've always said that we never mention our own players in this lineup.
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  But now that Ted Lindsay is over with the Chicago Blackhawks, I'd have to pick Ted too.
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  Gordy, how much weight and equipment does a hockey player carry on him, including skates?
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  Well, I'd say among the forwards, it just depends on your size.
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  But an average forward weighing about 170 would wear roughly anywhere from 23 to 25 pounds of equipment.
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  On the other hand, your goaltenders who are heavily padded will go anywhere around 30 to 35 pounds.
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  Our defensemen also, who are the bigger members of the club, they wear a little heavier padding around the shoulders,
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  which permits them to do all the heavy body check.
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  And therefore, being bigger and a little heavier equipped, I'd say they go close to 30 pounds.
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  I've heard it said that a hockey puck at times travels close to 100 miles per hour.
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  How do you get this tremendous speed in your shots?
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  I'd definitely say it travels over 100, I would say, because the simple fact that
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  while playing in Omaha, a young fellow by the name of George Hominuk was put through a test
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  and he was out shooting the puck for over a half hour, and he finally got the puck into the giving measurement.
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  And that puck at the time, after a half hour of shooting, and he was tired and he had to control it,
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  he got it up in around 90 miles per hour.
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  So I'd say an individual such as Gene Valable of Montreal, Canada, when going with the puck towards the net,
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  can get that shot away with accurate timing and get it close to the heel of the stick, such as you would in golf,
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  he'd put that thing well up over 100, I do believe that.
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  Gordy, would you tell us about the incident in the playoff game several years ago
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  that resulted in a serious injury to you and almost ended your hockey career?
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  Well, Harry, I'd have to say I'm a little in the dark on this subject for the simple reason that
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  it was a playoff game, it was against the Toronto Maple Leafs and it was the first game of the series.
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  And I was coming down, checking Teeter Kennedy at the time, and he was going, I'd say, down the left board,
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  being a right winger, I had to check him, that's my position.
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  So as I was catching up to him and coming along the board, all I remember is he making a pass into center ice
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  and being a right hand, that stick come around, and that's about the last I remember.
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  When I saw the stick coming up close to the head and trying to get out of the way, I guess I didn't
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  because I went down, and the last thing I remembered was that, but the first thing I do remember
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  when I come through was they were shaving the head, and I haven't got that much hair on my head,
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  believe me Harry, and it worried me quite a bit.
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  Gordy, did hockey players at one time have a clause in their contracts that paid them so much money
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  for stitches when they needed patching up?
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  That's right Harry, but it actually only lasted two years for good reason too.
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  The first year they were paying ten cents a stitch, and the company at the time were losing a lot of money.
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  And the second year they thought they'd change the program a little and give five or ten cents a cut,
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  which required a stitch, and they were losing, so they gave it up after two years.
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  Gordy, what's the funniest thing that ever happened to you on the ice?
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  The funniest thing Harry, actually I was embarrassed more than hurt, and that was I'd lost a couple of front teeth
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  in the first year, nobody knew I was wearing false teeth, and a game against New York Rangers in Detroit
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  with an old goaltender and a beloved one around the New York area, Charlie Rainer, he was in the nets at the time.
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  I cut across in front of the net, tried to get a backhand away, and doing so a defenseman flicked me under the jaw with a stick.
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  That permitted the teeth to run free, they went to the ice, and I dove at them, believe me,
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  and I cupped them in my hand and I held my mouth more or less as I put them back in place.
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  The referee and Charlie Rainer come over and asked me if I was hurt, and I said not really, I said I'm just teeth hunting at the time.
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  Thank you very much, Gordy Hall, the Detroit Red Wings, one of hockey's outstanding players.